Best German Restaurant

Gaumenkitzel

For those who aren't well versed in the diversity of German cuisine, there's often an assumption that it's all pretty heavy-handed: big sausages, big pieces of fried pork, heaping mounds of vinegar-drenched sauerkraut. At Gaumenkitzel, experience the lighter side of modern German cuisine. Sure, there's plenty of meat — the pan-fried schnitzel is the best we've had, and the skinny grilled Nürnberger Bratwürste sausages and the smoked pork loin (served with a healthy portion of 'kraut) are all divine. But Chef Anja Voth has an especially light touch with vegetables, a talent best showcased in whatever seasonal soup she happens to be serving. The meat is all sustainably sourced (often pasture-raised, even), and Voth makes nearly everything on the menu from scratch — down to the freshly-flaked oats she uses for the porridge and granola she serves at Gaumenkitzel's vastly underrated weekend brunch.